The technology utilized to store, manage, and consume power in electrically-powered vehicles has been improving steadily. Indeed, electrically-powered vehicles (hereinafter electric vehicles) are now competitive with fuel-powered vehicles on many performance parameters, and typically surpass fuel-powered vehicles in measures of efficiency, environmental cleanliness, and operating noise levels. This has led to an increase in the popularity of electric vehicles and hence to a steady increase in the number of such vehicles on the road and in use at any given time.
An occasional problem affecting drivers of all types of vehicles, whether fuel-powered or electrically-powered, is running out of power and becoming stranded with an inoperable vehicle. With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, this problem may become more and more common as many of the drivers of electric vehicles may be unfamiliar with the operating limits of their vehicles. Also contributing to this problem may be drivers' lack of knowledge as to the location of the nearest fueling or recharging station.
Conventional electric vehicles are preconfigured to operate with their batteries between certain upper and lower charge thresholds. Operating within a lower and upper threshold substantially above 0% charge and below 100% charge helps preserve the life of the battery. For example, a lower charge threshold may be 30% and an upper charge threshold may be 80%. In plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which use both petroleum-based fuel and electrical power from a battery for propulsion, if the petroleum-based fuel is depleted and the battery charge meets or falls below the lower charge threshold, the vehicle cannot be operated even though charge is present in the battery. Thus, a driver of an electric vehicle may become stranded with an inoperable vehicle when, in fact, the vehicle battery still has charge remaining and is capable of continuing propulsion.
Therefore, it is an object in part to provide a method and system for drivers of electric vehicles to reach a fueling or recharging station or other point of interest such as their residence in the event that their fuel becomes depleted and their batteries approach, meet or fall below the lower charge threshold by making use of the remaining battery charge. However, while this is an object underlying certain implementations of the invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to systems that solve the problems noted herein. Moreover, the inventors have created the above body of information for the convenience of the reader and expressly disclaim all of the foregoing as prior art; the foregoing is a discussion of problems discovered and/or appreciated by the inventors, and is not an attempt to review or catalog the prior art.